1. Field
This relates to fasteners, fastener components and fastener receptacles, including quarter-turn fasteners for panels, covers, and other elements to be secured together.
2. Related Art
Many types of fasteners undergo significant stresses and loading during normal use. Normal use may involve high loads and significant vibration over extended periods. In critical applications, such as in aircraft and the like, the fasteners may be rated to withstand the loading and vibration significantly longer than for other applications, without compromising the securement.
In aircraft applications, the types and numbers of fasteners add significant weight to the final assembly. Panel fasteners, for example, have a number of parts, most or all of which are metal. Metal is used for strength, corrosion resistance and other factors. However, the metal parts add appreciable weight to the final assembly. If the weight of a given part could be reduced, because of the number of individual parts, even small weight reductions in an individual component may add up to a significant weight reduction overall. Additionally, some metal materials may still experience some corrosion and may also be incompatible with surrounding materials.